High ranking officials of the former Georgian Government hold leading political positions in Ukraine. Public interest towards them remains high in Georgia. Young Barristers got interested in the amount of their salaries, bonuses, travel and living expenses. There are different information about the amount of monthly salary, received by the former President of Georgia and current governor of Odessa, Mikheil Saakashvili. The organization requested relevant Government Agencies in the Ukraine to provide accurate information about the salaries of the former Georgian officials on the basis of the law of Ukraine on “the Access to the Public Information”.
On June 9, 2015, “Young Barristers” addressed following State Agencies of Ukraine: Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine, Prime Minister Office of Ukraine (Director of Public Relations and Communication Department), President’s Administration and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. Requested information is about following Georgian officials: Mikheil Saakashvili, Aleksandre Kvitashvili, Levan Varshalomidze, Ekaterine Zguladze, Jaba Ebanoidze, Giorgi Tsiklauri, Gia Getsadze, David Sakvarelidze, Gizo Ugulava and Kjatia Shelia. Information should be submitted regarding following issues: their official positions within above mentioned agencies, date of appointment, their monthly salaries and bonuses, amount of funds allocated from Ukrainian state budget to cover their living expenses.
The Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine, David Sakhvarelidze published scanned version of the letter, transferred by the organization to the Prosecutor’s Office through Social network, and commented, that organization’s interest of receiving such information can only be ordered by the Government.
“Young Barristers” refuses to participate in the discussion, concerning political opponents’ mutual accusations. The organization aims at getting requested information from Ukrainian Agencies and introducing it to the society and any public official should respect right of the society to access public information. If we are talking about open and transparent democratic institutions, why it can be undesirable for any officials that “Young Barristers” or any other NGO got interested in the issue of getting Public information in order to introduce it to the interested society. On the contrary, politicians working in Ukraine, should show an example of accountability to Georgian and Ukrainian population.
“Young Barristers” will research submitted information, analyze legally and publish the results.
